Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Introduces Lightning Cable MFi Specifications for Headphones

bluespark said:
Lossless 48 kHz digital output is a huge deal -- with the right headphones and source material, it will *vastly* affect audio quality. Bravo, Apple.
Click to expand...

While the output is analog now, existing iPhones can play up to 24 bit @ 48kHz ALAC files, as far as I can tell (anything higher than that won't sync). And it wouldn't surprise me if digital output has also been available (with a 30-pin adaptor, perhaps).
 
For everyone complaining about not being able to charge while using the headphones … lightning pass-thru.
 
I think people are under the impression that the headphone jack is disappearing, I HIGHLY doubt it.

Think about, EarPods for the best in box buds, and then a high end audio segment clearly separated in the public mind by the fact that it plugs into the lightning connector.
 
NT1440 said:
I think people are under the impression that the headphone jack is disappearing, I HIGHLY doubt it.

Think about, EarPods for the best in box buds, and then a high end audio segment clearly separated in the public mind by the fact that it plugs into the lightning connector.
Click to expand...

Maybe not yet but I think eventually Apple will send the audio jack the way of the optical drive.

Breaking: First rumor for the iPhone 7 :D
 
If Apple drops the 3.5mm headphone adapter in favor of this lightning option, then honestly I don't care how technically superior it will be - I will drop the iPhone in a heartbeat and switch. I have no intention of buying headphones that I can only use on one company's device.
 
Be honest, how many of us, on a regular basis, actually use headphones while charging an iDevice? That being said, I hope :apple: doesn't charge an arm and a leg for a lightning to 3.5 adapter.
 
Yawn. Apple is behind the times again. Music is played out. Apple really needs to shift its focus to the medium of the 21st century, video.
 
longofest said:
If Apple drops the 3.5mm headphone adapter in favor of this lightning option, then honestly I don't care how technically superior it will be - I will drop the iPhone in a heartbeat and switch. I have no intention of buying headphones that I can only use on one company's device.
Click to expand...

I'd assume. . . hope that they would make adapters for other headphones. I use my Bose headset for my MacBook Air all the time, which doesn't have a lightning port. It would be a royal mistake to make people buy more than one set of headphones that are only compatible with one device, especially other Apple devices.
 
rlhamil said:
While the output is analog now, existing iPhones can play up to 24 bit @ 48kHz ALAC files, as far as I can tell (anything higher than that won't sync). And it wouldn't surprise me if digital output has also been available (with a 30-pin adaptor, perhaps).
Click to expand...

ALL output has to be analog at some point, as sound is an analog medium. I'm not sure what the benefit is of moving the DAC to the headphone is from the phone... I worry that there is a risk of switching to lower quality components. In-ear headphones for example would require an extremely small DAC circuit and amplifier - smaller than what you could fit in the phone.
 
So the secret post about the new ear buds with a lighting connector that monitors your heart rate that was posted on secret may be true .
 
This is a great. Now we just need an iPhone that can store a decent sized music library. 64GB is nowhere near enough for lossless audio.
 
BornAgainApple said:
Be honest, how many of us, on a regular basis, actually use headphones while charging an iDevice? That being said, I hope :apple: doesn't charge an arm and a leg for a lightning to 3.5 adapter.
Click to expand...

I do, actually. All the time. It may not be headphones, but I use the headphone output of my iphone to go into my older car's AUX-in port, and then power via lightning cable.
 
I suppose the pundits are going to say this isn't any sort of innovation, as they always do. I don't know if it's all that significant but it does seem like something that most consumer tech companies don't offer. The pundits shouldn't easily be able to just shrug this off like everything else Apple does.
 
BornAgainApple said:
Be honest, how many of us, on a regular basis, actually use headphones while charging an iDevice? That being said, I hope :apple: doesn't charge an arm and a leg for a lightning to 3.5 adapter.[/QUOTE

The first thing I do when I get in my car is plug my phone into the charger, then the audio jack so I can stream Pandora. While I'm at home I use my headphones for phone calls while also charging it. Always a need to have that ability while charging. I don't like bluetooth and would hate to have that be my only option while charging.
Click to expand...
 
ThisIsNotMe said:
Yawn. Apple is behind the times again. Music is played out. Apple really needs to shift its focus to the medium of the 21st century, video.
Click to expand...

That's ridiculous. We still have ears. Apple can do both audio and video. Music is played out? Says who? There are audiophiles and videophiles and both deserve equal time.
 
captain kaos said:
I can see the internal space of the headphone jack being useful for other things, but using the lightning connector stops you form being able to charge the phone while using headphones. Of course if things shift to wireless charging that would negate that point, but you'd also have to have MFI headphones, you couldn't bring along your own set of favourite headphones with an old school jack. Unless we start having 3.5mm to lighting converters, but that starts to get messy.
Click to expand...

What about a pass-through cable?
 
Am intrigued, thought the current lightening connector supported line out/in? seems to do fine with my son's 5C via a legacy (iphone 4 and prior) adaptor to his radio.

Remove the headphone jack - hell yes, it's legacy... reminds me of the pre/post HMDI scenario... albeit that was a more open standard. Took a while to take hold but now it's in all AV amps.

----------
Orlandoech.com said:
I do every day actually
Click to expand...

Dual lightning connectors?
 
blackboxxx said:
Welcome to the future, where you have to buy new headphones if you switch to Android :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think an elegant solution would be having both a 3.5mm port and a Lightning port in the headphones themselves. The same ports in the iPhone, located to the headphones. Then you could swap between audio or Lightning cables depending on what you plug into and avoid those stupid limits.

This would obviously require the existence of a Lightning-to-Lightning cable to take advantage of the iPod Lightning port, though. And a Lightning-to-USB adapter to plug into a Mac, unless Apple wants to replace USB with Lightning all of a sudden.

----------
AtomicGrog said:
Remove the headphone jack - hell yes, it's legacy... reminds me of the pre/post HMDI scenario... albeit that was a more open standard. Took a while to take hold but now it's in all AV amps.
Click to expand...

Same thing happened when they started introducing USB: now we can't imagine computers without those ports.
 
So no issue with this if they keep the headphone port, but wouldn't the real future be in Lossless wireless headphones?
 
JPinSD said:
Maybe not yet but I think eventually Apple will send the audio jack the way of the optical drive.

Breaking: First rumor for the iPhone 7 :D
Click to expand...

so end of iphone usage for non-audiophiles?

Last thing i want is to spend >$10 on in-ear earphones to listen to music on my phone.
 
This reminds me of my first mobile that had "plays mp3s" as a feature which had shipped with a proprietery headphone jack. They did at least provide me with an earbud for me to plug into them.

Yes, I did mean 1 earbud.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back